Daesh on run as Battle for Mosul enters second day

By Arif Yusuf and Jamal al-Badrani

NINEVEH, Iraq (AA) – A broad military campaign aimed at retaking northern Iraq’s Daesh-held city of Mosul -- from two separate axes -- entered its second day on Tuesday, according to Iraqi military sources.

"Iraqi forces are continuing the push on Mosul along two axes," Mohamed al-Jubouri, a colonel in the Iraqi army’s Nineveh Operations Command, told Anadolu Agency on Tuesday.

The first axis, he explained, which was being pursued by units of the Iraqi army’s Ninth Division, ran between the Al-Kuwer and Nimrud areas southeast of Mosul.

Simultaneously, Iraqi federal police personnel are moving along a second axis -- toward the village of Tlul Nasser -- from the south, according to al-Jubouri.

"Troops advancing along the second axis are now moving in on Tlul Nasser and the Al-Mishraq sulphur plant, both of which are located in the Al-Qayyarah area south of Mosul and both of which are still held by Daesh," al-Jubouri said.

Ali al-Darraji, an Iraqi army lieutenant, told Anadolu Agency that Daesh’s defenses had been decisively breached in the village of Abbas Rajab near the Hammam al-Alil area south of Mosul.

According to al-Darraji, Iraqi forces on Tuesday morning captured the village despite fierce resistance by Daesh militants.

"Abbas Rajab is of vital strategic importance," al-Darraji said. "Its capture will contribute to rapid progress by forces advancing on Mosul along the southern axis."

Amin al-Jazaeri, an officer in the army’s Ninth Division, for his part, told Anadolu Agency that Iraqi forces were now stationed in several of the villages south of Mosul that had been captured over the last 36 hours.

- Supply shortages

Meanwhile, Kurdish Peshmerga forces stationed in Bashiqa (located roughly 12 kilometers northeast of Mosul) have yet to join the battle for Mosul due to "supply shortages", according to an Iraqi military source.

"Peshmerga forces had been expected to launch operations from the northeast today," Iraqi Army Major Saadoun al-Delimi told Anadolu Agency on Tuesday.

"Due to supply shortages, however, the operation has been postponed until tomorrow," he added.

Al-Delimi went on to note that joint Iraqi security and military forces had held intense meetings early Tuesday at the Al-Qayyarah military airbase to discuss upcoming phases of the campaign.